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“Violence in Samoa is enormous and yet people don’t consider violence as such,” says the Director of Catholic Social Services in Samoa, Sale Mikaele Kolio.
To address this issue the Catholic Church has established a society with a vision to revive family love and end violence in homes.
Called the Gaualofa Society, its mission is to work with families to restore the peace and love into the home, “into the likeness of the holy family.”
Among its goals is to tackle violence in the home.
Sale says they aim to address the three major categories of violence, which are physical, psychological and sexual.
Documents obtained by the Sunday Samoan say the “Society’s initial focuses are to help eliminate all forms of violence with greater emphasis on domestic violence by providing alternative dynamic community awareness programs.”
“We will also provide general one to one counselling and spiritual counselling, therapeutic and rehabilitation, open and closed individual group programs for both victims and perpetrators of domestic violence.”
The Society will be fully staffed. And they are undergoing training to prepare them for the mission.
“We are doing intensive trainings in social theories that will make our facilitators present better,” said Sale.
He said the programme would target schools, teachers and young people.
The Society was launched during a gathering at the Tofamamao Retreat Centre at Leauva’a on 28 June. The keynote address was delivered by Archbishop Alapati Lui Mataeliga.
It will be based at Moamoa, adjacent to the Catholic Theological College there.
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News category: Asia Pacific.
